Contents

Pronunciation

See also: Year pronunciation There is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century, including 2020, should be pronounced in English. Although the majority of English-speakers say "two thousand (and) X" for any specific year post–1999, it is often suggested that the continuation of this type of pronunciation for the entire 21st century would be inappropriate or unnatural, given the alternative "twenty X" option.

Many experts agree that majority usage of "two thousand (and) X" is a result of influences from the Year 2000 problem hype, as well as the way "2001" was pronounced in the influential 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Experts also suggest that since former years such as 1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year 2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five".[1]

Many people, ranging from linguistic and academic experts to Internet bloggers, predict that the "twenty X" pronunciation method will eventually prevail, but a time frame as to when this change will occur often differs. The year 2010 is suggested by many[2][3], while 2011[1] and 2013 are popular as well. The latest time frame for change is usually placed at 2020[1] or 2100. David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, has predicted that the change will occur in 2011, to "twenty eleven", explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on rhythm, rather than logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or "flow" of "two thousand (and) ten", beats out that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats out "two thousand (and) eleven".[1] Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013. The UK Times has suggested 2020 as a final time frame for the change, saying "If people can have “twenty-twenty” vision, then surely they should also live in the year “twenty twenty”."[1]

In addition, the Vancouver Olympics, taking place in 2010, are being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten Olympics", and the London Olympics, taking place in 2012, are also being officially referred to by London 2012 as "the twenty-twelve Olympics".

Predicted and scheduled events

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Unknown dates

The main segment of track extending from San Francisco to Anaheim of the California High Speed Rail system is expected to be completed.

JAXA plans to send robotic astronauts to the Moon, followed by human astronauts[4]

Volvo hopes to use radar, sonar and other advanced technologies to create a crash-proof car by 2020. [8]

The IBM Institute for Business Value concluded from their study "Automotive 2020: Clarity Beyond the Chaos" that all automobiles will have some level of hybridization by 2020. [9] Toyota's vice president in charge of powertrain development also believes that all Toyota cars produced will be hybrid vehicles by the year 2020. [10]

Cars that drive themselves on smart highways, 3-D video conferencing, artificial brain cells, artificial lungs, artificial kidneys, identification of the genetic links of all diseases - all these have been predicted for 2020. [11]

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This article or section contains information about scheduled or expected future events.It may contain tentative information; the content may change as the event approaches and more information becomes available.

Pronunciation

Among experts and the general public, there is a debate as to how specific years of the 21st century, including 2020, should be pronounced in English. Although the majority of English-speakers say "two thousand (and) X" for any specific year post–1999, it is often suggested that the continuation of this type of pronunciation for the entire 21st century would be inappropriate or unnatural, given the alternative "twenty X" option.

Many experts agree that majority usage of "two thousand (and) X" is a result of influences from the Y2K hype, as well as the way "2001" was pronounced in the influential 1968 film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. Experts also suggest that since former years such as 1805 and 1905 were commonly pronounced as "eighteen oh" or "nineteen oh" five, the year 2005 should naturally have been pronounced as "twenty oh-five".[1]

Many people, ranging from linguistic and academic experts to Internet bloggers, predict that the "twenty X" pronunciation method will eventually prevail, but a timeframe as to when this change will occur often differs. The year 2010 is suggested by many[2][3], while 2011[1] and 2013 are popular as well. The latest timeframe for change is usually placed at 2020[1] or 2100.

According to a recent press release, David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, has predicted that the change will occur in 2011, to "twenty eleven", explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on rhythm, rather than logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or "flow" of "two thousand (and) ten", beats out that of "twenty ten", but the flow of "twenty eleven" beats out "two thousand (and) eleven".[1] Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013. The UK Times has suggested 2020 as a final timeframe for the change, saying "If people can have “twenty-twenty” vision, then surely they should also live in the year “twenty twenty”."[1]

In addition, the Vancouver olympics, taking place in 2010, are being officially referred to by Vancouver 2010 as "the twenty-ten Olympics", and the London olympics, taking place in 2012, are also being officially referred to by London 2012 as "the twenty-twelve Olympics". Chicago 2016, which operates the official Chicago bid for the 2016 games, refers to the "twenty-sixteen games".

According to military analyst Thomas W. Chittum, 2020 is a likely date for the beginning of Civil War II in the United States, most probably, he predicts, in Compton due to a white gang called superfly and where, he believes, Chicano activists will declare an independent republic of Aztlan.

See also

References

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at 2020. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.

Volvo hopes to use radar, sonar and other advanced technologies to create a crash-proof car by 2020. [6]

The IBM Institute for Business Value concluded from their study "Automotive 2020: Clarity Beyond the Chaos" that all automobiles will have some level of hybridization by 2020. [7] Toyota's vice president in charge of powertrain development also believes that all Toyota cars produced will be hybrid vehicles by the year 2020. [8]